Means for drying cylindrical articles



Aug. 19, 1930. c. T. DRAPER MEANS FOR IIDRYI-NG CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Original Filed Juy 28, 1924, 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 Arra/PNV Aug. 19, 193D.' c. T. DRAPE; 1flz MEANS FOR DRYING CYMNDRICAL ARTICLES Original Filed July 28, 1924 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 H l HMH! .L A

mmmllw C. T. DRAPER Aug. 19; 1930.

Original Filed July 28 1924 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 Aug. y19, 1930.A

c. T. DRAPER MEANS FOR DRYING CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES original Filed July 2s. 112,24v 9 sheets-sheet 4 Arromfx Aug-19, 1930. c. T. 'DRAPER l 157.73525" MEANS FOR DR-YING CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Original File'd Ju'ly 28, 1924 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 Aug. 19, 1930. c. T. DRAPER I MEANS FOR DRYING CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Original Filed July 28. 1924 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 Aug'. 19, 1.930. c. T. DRAPER v 1,773,525

MEANS FOR DRYING CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Original Filed July 28. 1924 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 Aug. 19, 1930. c.'r. DRAPr-:R

MEANS FOR DRYING CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Original Filed July 2B, 1924 9 Sheets-Sheetl 8 Arran/ver Aug. 1, 1930. i T. DRAPER 1,?73525 4 MEANS FOR DRYING CYLINDRICAL ATICLES Original Filed July 2B. 1924 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 ,Paume-Aug. 19, 1930 to dry quickly `and evenly such coated ar- "UNITED STATES CHARLES T. DBAPER, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR T0 THE DRAPER SMIANIIIIE'AC-A 4ina'laN'r oFFrcE 7 TURINGYCOMBANY, OFCLEVEIAND, OHIO, A- CORPORATION OF OHIO SYFOB., IDR-.YING CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Original application filed July 28, 19,24, Serial No. 728,535'. Patent N..1,70,084, dated.V March 12, 1929.

' Divided and this application filed IMarch 31, 1926.` Serial No. 98,764.

. My invention relates to improvements in method of'and means for drying cylindrical articles, and more especially sheet metal containers that are coated orA painted exteriorly or interiorly. The object of my invention is ticles Aat minimum expense Without impairing the appearance of the article, while aiding in maintaining thel evenness of the coating during the drying process.

I shall describe my improvement 'as applied to the surface painting ofsheet metal barrels, although my invention is much more comprehensive in its scope, as indicated by the appended claims.. Briefly describing' then, its instant application in a preliminary way, l may say that the sheet metal barrels are initially' heated and submitted to the painting operation as to both ends and sides, either manually or mechanically applied, afi ter which they are placed upon an extended runway whereon they are supported solely by their chime rings. This runway isprovided `with means for slowly advancing the barrels from'- one end to the other, rolling them along their end supports in a heated atmosphere which preferably is in circulation and is adapted quickly to dry the paint.

Means are provided upon said runway which arel adapted to maintain the spacing of the barrels and-,prevent their contact with each other'and with any4 portion of the mechanism that'otherwise might mar theappearance of the completed container. The initial portion f' of the runway comprises a dry-heater or oven while' the terminal portion .preferably 'is open to the circulation of air. whereby the painted or enamelled surfaces of `the barrels are sufficiently cooled to permit of handling without aiiiecting their appearance. Prefer- 'ably, elevating and loading mechanisms are associated with the apparatus of my inven- -tion in order to facilitate and cheapen the handling and are here adverted to, although these form no partv of my present invention.

' and will not be described in detail.

The features, advantages andl preferred mode of operation of my improved mechanism may now be explained in connection Figure l is a diagrammatic plan view of l the system of my invention and its associated loading mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View thereof, on line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a slightly enlarged heating appliance; all of the figures on Sheet 1, however, being upon an extremelyreduced scale.

on line 4--4, Fig. 1, on which the loading takes place. e

Fig. 5, is a section Viewv of the elevating mechanism associated with the\skidway, on line 5-5,.Fig. 1.

Fig. 5-,A is a fragmentary view thereof upon an enlarged scale. y

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view of the furnace on line 6-6, Fig. 1, while'the remaining figures ofthe drawings are upon materially larger scales to represent the details 'of the apparatus diagrammatically shown -on -Sheet 1.

Fi 7 is an enlarged vertical section on line '--7,-Fig. 8, showing the loadingend of the conveyor mechanism.

Fig. Sis a plan view of said loading end of the conveyor.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of an intermediate View of the Fig. 4 is a side clevation'of the skidway portion of the heating chamber and conveyor Fig. 11 is a transverse section on line 11-11, Figs. 1l and 10.

Fig 12 is a plan view of the discharging and elevating mechanism; the latter being broken away@ i l F'g. 13 is a fragmentary section' on line 13--13, Fig. 12, illustrating a detail of the guide rod anchorage.

Fig. 14is a vertical section 'through the discharge end of the conveyor on line 14-14, Fig. 12. y

y Fig. 15 is a fragmentary section* on line 15-15, Fig. 14.

Fig. 16 is a fragmentary view upon. an enlarged scale illustrating the action of the j reference to indicate similar parts.

Referringfirst to Sheet 1, it should be under stood that the sheet metal barrels are supplied to the system or apparatus shown at the ri ght, advanced longitudinally toward the left, after being suitably painted or coated and transferred from the left hand or loading end of the apparatus to freight cars or other carriers'. The diagrammatic plan view of Fig. 1, is intended to show a heater a upon the extreme right to which the barrels b or other sheet metal containers are introduced, after which they are suitably painted, coated or enameled at c, either exteriorly, including their ends, or interiorly, or an acid-resisting lining, such as parain may be applied to such containers. All this is accomplished in accordance with well-known prac; tice and does not require explanation in detail.

The barrels b upon being suitably treated are supported terminally by their chime rings upon parallel rails extending through a heated passageway d, associated with a furnace d and exhausting mechanism d for effecting a circulation of heated air throughout the said passageway in order to effect rapid drying lof th'e barrels. l

The barrels preferably are supplied -to a suitable conveyor, later explained in detail,

which rolls them slowly through the passageway in a heated atmosphere which will effectually dry them, after which they are exposed to atmospheric air, as at b, in order to cool the heated surfaces, or chill. the paraflin, if this material is used, prior toV advanc- -ing the barrels by rolling them upon the elevating mechanism e which delivers Said barrels to a sldway-f from which they may be loaded into the waiting freight cars f.

The heater 'a is diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 3, equipped with gas burners a and a travelling belt a for passing the barrels b from one end thereof to the other. The elevating mechanism e shown in fragmentary and reduced scale sections in Figs. 4 and 5, and the drying furnace d with the conduit d3 of the exhausting system appear in Fig. 6 as diagrammatically related for cooperation, but require no specific explanation as these features are merely adj uncts of the invention or improvements herein explained.

The conveyor mechanism comprises essentially two .parallel supporting rails g g extending substantially the length of the systeml with which are associated, conveyor chains la, formed of'link-bars h terminally supported by grooved rollers h upon said rails. Sprocket wheels z' accommodate the endless chains and turn them from the lower to the upper or conveying level, as will bc best understood by referring to Fig. 7

The grooved supporting rollers h readily. slide laterally upon their shafts h3 which extend transversely from chain to chain and intermediately of said rollers spacing members L4 preferablyv are secured upon the'linkbars in opposingr paired arrangement.

It will be' understood that a system of the character herein shown must bel adapted for use with various sizes of containers and since these are to be terminally supported,.preferably by their chime rings upon the supporting rails, it is necessary to makehthe rails relatively adjustable toward and from eachother for the purpose of accommodating barrels und containers of various sizes. The means for adjusting the rails are applied at intervals throughout the length of the conveying mechanism, of' which they form a. part, and comprise a pivoted blade y' having links 'j' j respectively connected terminally with the two supporting rails so that upon moving said blade about its pivot, the rails will be separated or approximated with respect to each other until suitably adjusted for the particular size of container which'is to be handled. A bolt, as i", may be inserted in any of the registering openingsas best shown in Fig. 18, for the purpose of locking the `rails in their adjusted position. vDesirably, a lever j?? inay beinserted within the socket je provided upon the blade j more easily to actuate the supporting rails into their different positions of adjustment when the bolt is removed. The grooved rollers I1, automatically conform to the gauge ofthe supportingl rails as they readily slide 'along their shafts in conformance with the adjustment 'of said rails, and in order to bring them into alinev grooved rollers during their transit from the lower to the upper positions of the conveyor chains. The upperends of said rods are-tensioned b v'the leaf-springs k', said springs "beingadjustablv held at their outer ends by shackle-bolts k". while adj'ustably supported links Z13 and 1c* intermediately positionv these iexible rods Ic.

Because of the fact that the conveyor chains are subjected to considerable variations in temperatuie, it will be understood that their expansion and contraction must be compensated and this feature is. provided for by slidably mounting the bea-rings i of the justexplained above; the details of adjust- Y ling the auge of the rail-supports, the sprocket whee s and upper and lower positions of Y the chains being the same, although the shaft l m for 'said sprocket wheel m is rigidly journaled 'at m, Figs. 12 and 14, to afford suitable driving connections. This is provided in Y lfthe electric motor n and associated worm- .drlve n and gearmo n cal construction..

of obvious mechanimotor n E1s of low f.' -power for the reason that the barrels merely i fare rolled by the chain drive along the runway while t so that little power is required.' 'lhe flexible rods o which terminally are in alinement respectively lwith the upper andlower levels of the rail-supports for the chains, are tensioned bymeans ofcoiled springs of and since .the lower rails p are of fixed gauge, these rods serve to bring the rollers leaving the upper railsupports g, g, into alinement lth the lower rails p, p, as the chains leave he bottoms'of the sprocket wheels turning :n a counterlclockwisedirection, as indicated in Figs. 12` 13 and 15.

A curved member o2 is provided intermediately of the rail-supports g, g, from which the barrels b are transferred to the platform g 'of the elevating mechanism. This comprises connected chains lq travelling over driven sprocket Wheels g up an incline to the loading skidway, all of which form no part of my present invention and require no detailed description. v

YThe rail-supports y, g, desirably may be Y formed of .T-sections as shown in Figs. 11

and 17 while the 1lowerY rail-supports may be formed of angle irons; the vertical webs of both sections engaging the grooved rollers which support the laterally positioned chains upon the shafts h. while the spacing members h* serve to maintain the barrels b out of vcontact with eachJ other as indicated in Figs. 9 and 10. However, said spacing members may be substituted by employing larger wheels, asV h", Fig. 19, whose diameter is suiicient to prevent the surface contact of gine barrels as is' well indicated by the dotted e position of the righthand barrel. Preferably, these supporting wheels for 4the chains are composite members comprising two separately journaled rollers as best Y shown in Fig. 17. One of these h, as already pointed out, is grooved to accommo-v date the edge of the rail-support g, while the other roller, h, encloses 'inner flange thereof and'is adapted te bear against the e impelling chains are `support-- ed by rollers int-heir upper and lower levels along the runway with a minimum expenditure of force. The simple and effective actiony of these composite rollers will be under-v stood at a glance by referring to Fig. 16. A .sleeve-71.7 mounts the composite rollers .lz/',- h, for independent rotation with respect to-each other. Referring particularly to-Figs. 1 1 and 17, it will be seen that the rail g supports the chime of the barrel upon its horizontal flan e, While its vertical flange affords means or positively preventing appreciable lateral movement of the barrels and keeping them in alinement upon the runway. Moreover, the advancing means for the barrels, as well as the spacing members, are positioned above the supporting surfaces of the rails so as to contact only with the chimes and avoid marking the coated surfaces of the barrels.

It will be appreciated that the painted,

enameled-or paraiin coated barrels, as the e ca se may be, preferably are continuously advanced along the runway and through the heated atmosphere of its enclosed portion byrolling them axially to Vretain or linsure Va smooth, even distribution of the protective coatings for the barrels. Suitable protective coatings are readily dried inthe heated atmosphere, or paraffin, 'for example, may be evenly distributed throughout the interiors of the containers, and upon reaching the open section atthe left of the runway, Fig. 1,'the coatings will be cooled by the atmospheric airyso that the completed barrel'may be handled upon the elevating and loading mechanism as previously explained. A. vparaiiin or similar waxlike coating, itV will be under- `stood, is'solidified rather than dried, but I have employed the latter as a vgeneric descriptiveof treating variously dcoated containers.

-The length of the runway, obviously somewhat dependent upon the particularnature of the protective coating and heating is resortedto, principally for thepurpose of hastening the drying operation and insur' a better commercial product. It will be observed that merely the chime rings lb of the barrels, 17, come intovengagement with the rails, spacing members or Aadvanc- A ing rolls, while the protective coating is still in fluid condition. hence the finish of the -i Y barrels is not impaired or marred. Y In this connectionit may be explainedl that the chime rings of the modern steel barrel have a burnished surface and do notnecessarily require the protective coating normally iapplid to the sides and tends of the steel arre While my system has been explained-and l shownvin some detail, I desire tol have' it understood that my invention is not confined to the partmular mode of operation or pracpended claims.

tice nor to the details of structure set forth, except as these may be defined in the ap- I-Iaving now'described apparatus adapted for the practice of the method of my invention and certain novel structural features of the particular system shown, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, the following:

1. In apparatus of the class described, tlie combination with supporting rails of means for effecting their'relative adjustment toward and from each other and for locking' them in adjusted-positions, mechanism associated therewith and adapted to impel terminally supported cylindrical articles along said rails, and means for adjusting said mechanism concurrently to conform with the adjusted positions of the supporting rai-ls.

2. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with parallel rail-supports, of advancing mechanism for rolling articles along said supports, including a plurality ofconnected wheels engaging said rail-supports,

and fixed spacing Y* members interposed between .the sets o'f vwheels and mounted to travel therewith, substantially as set forth.

3. In apparatus Aofthe class described, the combination` with parallel rail-supports, of means for eiecting their relative adjustment and positioning toward and from each other, an endless conveyor-chain mounted for travel above and below said rail-supports, a plurality of bearing wheels carrying said chain J upon the rail-support, associated idler wheels provided upon the chain, and means for effecting the travel of the chain and the conveyed articles along said rail-supports.

4.. In apparatus'of the class described, the combination with parallel rail-supports, of endless chains travelling above and below said rail-supports, means for eiecting the relative adjustment of said rail-supports toward and from each other, a plurality of supporting wheels for the endless chains mountedupon the rail-supports and adjust- -longitudinally 7 In conveyor apparatus, the combination A with parallel supporting rails, of means for effecting their relative adjustment toward and from each other, tively associated therewith, including rolls 'disposed bearing upon the rail-supports; said rolls being adjustable with the rail-supports toward and from each other, and means for effecting the travel of the conveyor chain longitudinally of the `rail-supports.

8. In conveyor apparatus of the class described, the combination with parallel L-sectioned rails, of means for eectin the relative adjustment of said rails toward and from each other and for4 locking them in their adjusted positions, a conveyor chain running of said rails, grooved supporting rolls engaging over said rails and adjustable therewith, and means also provided at intervals upon the conveyor chain adapted to advance articles in rolling engagement with said rails.

In testimony whereof I do now aiiix my signature.

CHARLES T. DRAPER.

able therewith, means for eecting the travel of said chains, and terminal means for insuring the alinement of the wheels with the railsupports.

5. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with parallel rail-supports, of

endless chains travelling above and below said rail-supports, means for effecting the relativo adjustment of said rail-supports to- Award and :from each other, a plurality of supporting wheels for the endless chains mounted upon the rail-supports and adjustable therewith, means for efecting the travel of said chains, and flexible alining .members terminally positioned to track the .wheels uponthe supporting rails iii-their relatively adjusted positions.

6 In Vconveyor apparatus of the class described. the combination with parallel railat intervals upon said chain and` a conveyor chain opera- 

